A story of an older lady waiting for the bus
I recently had a small adventure while taking my mother-in-law to take a bus ride back to her home. I ended up writing a letter to the bus company describing the adventure. I am posting the letter here because I like telling stories.
Subject: A story of an older lady waiting for the bus
From: xxxx@xxxx.xxx
Date: January 3, 2008 8:28:39 PM AST
To: xxxx@xxxx.xxx
Hello,
My name is Gordie Noye and I would like to take a bit of your time to tell you a story (it is true, at least from my point of view and to the best of my recollection) about my mother-in-law and her desire to take a bus from Borden PEI to Miramichi NB this morning. She is a kind lady who is getting up in years and, much to her son-in-law’s protest, prefers to take the bus home rather than have me drive her. It is no trouble.
Anyway, because the bus leave at 9:05am from Borden and we live about 35 minutes from there we got up early and were on the road by 8:10am. We called before we left to reduce any anxiety and because we knew that the weather yesterday in the western part of PEI was quite harsh. We were told by the people in Borden that they had not heard anything and this was usually a good sign. By 8:45am we were in Borden and parked outside, ticket in hand, waiting for the bus. Time passed. At about 9:15 a blue bus pulled into the parking lot and I got out with my mother-in-law’s suitcase and went over to put it on the bus. Th driver was a friendly fellow who told us that this was a charter bus taking a hockey team to Sydney for a tournament. We were welcome to come along (I think he would have taken us … it was early and he seemed to be in a good mood). We declined and went back to the car to wait.
At around 9:35am I called home to my wife and asked her if she could find out anything about the bus because we were getting a little concerned. There were a number of others that were waiting for the bus and no information regarding the arrival was available. When she called back she told me that she had been told that the bus was 30 minutes late. I love my wife so I did not point out that this piece of information was about as difficult to determine as looking at a clock (which now told me that the bus was 42 minutes late). I thanked her and continued to wait in the parking lot with my mother-in-law. We were pretty much out of things to talk about by now. Around 9:50am my wife called me back to tell me that she had got in contact with the people in Summerside and that the bus had just left and that there were two busses: one to Halifax and one to Moncton. This was great news because it would meant that my mother-in-law would get home in about the same amount of time and that I would still get to saw goodbye to my friends who were flying out of Charlottetown later in the day. I do not get to see them that often and appreciate the times when I am able to see them, even if it is just to say a quick goodbye.
Time passed.
At around 10:20 (my timing is getting off around this point–it may have been earlier or later) an Acadian bus pulled into the parking lot right in front of the cars that were parked waiting. I went out to ask the driver if this was the Halifax bus or the Moncton bus. It was the former but the driver told me that the Moncton bus was on the way. He loaded up the passengers and then drove to the far side of the parking lot and idled. We waited some more. Soon afterward a purple bus came into the parking lot and pulled up across from the cars but rather far away, across the width of the lot. A gentleman without luggage jogged out from the service station and hopped onto the bus. The lady and boy in the car next to me got out and picked up their luggage and began walking toward the bus and I got out with my mother-in-law (she is a bit older and somewhat slower) and got ready to go to the bus. The door on the bus closed and the purple bus (it was marked as a Trius bus) drove to the far side of the parking lot near the Acadian bus. The lady, apparently a bit surprised, turned and began walking to the parked buses. The boy was a bit behind her and my mother-in-law and I were behind him. We were the slowest.
The lady got within about 5 metres of the back of the purple bus when it pulled away and left. The Acadian bus followed. Needless to say we were surprised. The lady, the boy, my mother-in-law, and I went back to our cars somewhat confused. I thought we must have gone to the wrong bus (again) and we all sat to wait for the “real” bus to come. We waited about 15 minutes and then I went into the service station to see if I could find out what was happening.
When I entered the service station I asked the lady behind the counter when we could expect the bus to Moncton. The gentleman who was with her said that it had been here and picked up the passengers and left already. I was somewhat surprised by this but it did serve to confirm my worst fears that my mother-in-law and the two people in the car next to me (I later found out that they were heading to Quebec) were stranded. I was very surprised because I felt that we were not given enough time to make it to the bus. And even allowing for the fact that my mother-in-law is a bit slower than a younger man jogging from the service station (without luggage) I do not think that we were being particularly slow. We had waited for over 90 minutes for a bus at this point and were quite anxious to get on it. The lady and the boy kept their luggage outside of their car in order to more quickly get to the bus. She was actually quite fast. But, we missed the bus.
When I suggested that the bus did not stop for us the gentleman (he was really not that gentle … I am going to call him the man from now on; the lady behind the counter seemed genuinely sorry for our predicament and was quite friendly. She might have even been a bit embarrassed with the response I got from the man) behind the counter told me that the bus did indeed stop and that two people he knew got on the bus so it must have stopped. I did not see the second person get on the bus, but then again, I was getting my mother-in-law’s luggage out of the back seat of the car at that time. The man did not offer any more assistance. I asked if either of them could help me get my mother-in-law to Moncton. He gave me the toll-free number to call. I called and waited for over two minutes (two minutes and sixteen seconds to be exact–I saw that on my phone) but did not get an answer. I then asked for the number of the Moncton terminal to see if I could get the Miramichi bus to wait for a few minutes and I would drive my mother-in-law to Moncton and then have her get on the bus from there. I also offered to take the lady and the younger boy with me as I had two spaces in my car. The man asked me where I was going and I told him. He looked at the schedule and told me that I could not make the connection. I told him that I figured this to be the case and I wanted to call to see if they could hold the bus for me if I left right away. He asked me where the other couple were headed and I told him it was Quebec. He told me that they would not make it either. He finally got me the number to call.
I called.
The lady in Moncton was wonderful. She was earnest and sincere on the telephone and my opinion of representatives of Acadian Bus Lines took a sharp turn upward from listening to the man justifying why he was challenging me on the bus not stopping (he was only challenging me because he knew that two guys he knew were drivers got on the bus … there was a lot more justification of why things were the way that they were and that the bus definitely did stop). The lady in Moncton did more for your reputation today than she might realize and I truly wish I could remember her name (it may have been Natalie) because I would wish her to receive a “pat on the back” for doing her job so well, especially by comparison. The lady called the dispatcher to try to solve the problem and owing to the amount of time that had passed and and her limited power was unable to do so. The bus had left and we were behind and the schedule could not be changed so significantly for two people on such a busy day. This I understand.
I was left with the unenjoyable task of telling my mother-in-law and the lady and the younger boy (there was a man in the car driving them to the bus as well) that we had missed the bus. Nobody was particularly happy. They seemed like nice people so I extended my offer to drive them as far as Miramichi if that helped them. I knew I would be driving my mother-in-law home because she had a scheduled appointment at the hospital she did not want to miss.
While we were discussing our options in the service station a trucker overheard our conversation and offered to take the lady and the boy most of the way to their destination. He was traveling with his grandson and seemed very friendly. It did my heart good to have somebody be able to help them out. They were quite disappointed and this seemed to cheer them up to have somebody so willing to help them get home. And I imagine it would be quite exciting for the boy to ride in an 18 wheeler. That might just make up for the wait in the cold and the disappointment of missing the bus. The lady was not quite so happy and the man driving them to the bus was also somewhat disappointed to have to kiss her goodbye through the window of a semi being driven by another man (even though he had his grandson with him). We traded names and telephone numbers in case we needed somebody to corroborate our stories. I am going to assume that I will not need him to do so. Mostly because I only want you to know that it happened. I do not want any money from you and I am not going to boycott your service because you are the only game in town. There is no competition so it is not like I can become self-righteous and swear never to use an Acadian bus again. Besides, the lady in Moncton has already proven to me that Acadian has some representatives that truly decent people.
The long and short of it is that the lady and the boy left PEI in an 18 wheeler and I hope have made it to their destination. I asked the (perhaps embarrassed) lady at the service station if I could get a refund for my mother-in-law’s ticket and she complied without comment. The man behind the counter was gone somewhere and was not to be found at this time. She returned the money without comment (but without malice) and I returned the money to my mother-in-law and left the service station. I drove to another service station and filled my tank with gas (I was a little self-righteous and did not feel that I wanted to give gas money to the people at the Irving at that particular moment). After this (and with coffee) we paid the toll and headed over the Confederation Bridge and on our way to New Brunswick. At least we had something to talk about now.
This would normally be the end of my story and I would close with the hope that this message would get passed around your company (even a little bit would make me happy) and maybe somebody would attach a memo about the importance of corporate representatives and maybe, just maybe, it would not happen next time to somebody like me. I rather think that the lady and the boy will have a less than positive view of Acadian and possibly the Maritime provinces. It may even affect her opinion of the man she was with–it is hard to tell. Anyhow, it would normally be the end of my story if it were not for the fact that I got a large coffee before I left and by the time I made it to Bouctouche I was in desperate need of a break to go to the bathroom. It was rather urgent. I pulled into the Irving service station (my self-righteousness had passed) and parked. As I was getting out an Acadian bus pulled into the service station lot. My mother-in-law recognized the driver of the as the man who drove to Miramichi and went over to talk to him. He confirmed that he was heading there and she asked if she could get on. She rushed inside to buy a ticket and I waited with her bag outside of the bus. Her bag was still tagged for Miramichi. She got her ticket; the driver put her bag on the bus; I got a hug (from my mother-in-law); she climbed on the bus; and I got to go inside and use the washroom and head home. The driver was also very kind to her but was puzzled as to why she just did not get on the bus on PEI. I can only imagine he got a good telling of the tale.
This is the end of my story. I am home. I called my mother-in-law and she is home and happy. We both have a story to tell and our opinion of Acadian is only slightly diminished–and there have been good parts to that as well (and I have been kind enough to point out that it was a Trius bus that left us in Borden and not a bus that was tagged with the Acadian name–in all likelihood it was a bus chartered to help handle the load and poor conditions on PEI. It is also useful because I can play with the name of the purple bus to be a Try-us-if-you-can-catch us bus or the like. I am sure you can come up with other clever variations).
I will retell this story. I already have several times. It is a good story. I may even post it on a web site or two. That is the power of personal publishing. As I mentioned, I am only writing this to you to let you know that what happened was important to me and I feel it is important enough to write you this story.
Please accept this story in the spirit it has been written and have a Happy New Year.
Sincerely,
Gordie Noye
AFTERWORD:
Acadian (and particularly Natalie) have acquitted themselves very well again with a response. I got a response before I posted the message above and Natalie has offered apologies, passed on my story (even before I wrote my message apparently), and offered a complementary ticket. In short, I have been left feeling like my concerns mattered to the company.
My opinion of the company has been sufficiently raised to make the incident into an interesting story (well, to me) and not mark against the company. Mistakes will happen and I doubt this one will happen again. That is as much as a person can ask.
